Dead Pony Rising

Dead Pony Rising

Chapter One - Something Big

Date: May 20, 2011 11:56 a.m.

A chariot flies through the sky, over giant fields of green grass and multicolored flowers. A Pegasus is pulling the chariot; another pony sits inside with a camera around his neck. As they fly through the sky, the earth pony takes picture after picture. He has a scruffy looking black mane, and a tail to match it. His eyes are dark brown, and his fur is a light grey. The Pegasus kept looking back at the earth pony; ready to ask a question.

“So, why are you coming out here, anyway?” The Pegasus asked.

“I got a tip that something big was happening,” The earth pony replied, as he continued taking more pictures.

“In a nowhere little town like this? I didn’t hear anything about it on the T.V.” The Pegasus said as he continued pulling the chariot through the sky.

“Yeah? Well, I’m freelance, pal. I don’t wait for the T.V. to tell me what to cover.”

As the earth pony continues to take pictures; he zooms in on one of the roads leading into the town and spots some Royal Guards with a road block in place. They were standing around, watching another group of ponies slowly shamble towards their barricade.

“What was that,” The Pegasus asked. “Were…were those the Royal Guardians?”

“Yeah,” The earth pony answered. “I guess flying chariot was the way to go after all. They’ve probably got all of the roads blocked off by now.”

They continue flying over more fields. The air currents were rustling up the stallions’ manes.

“And, here she is…Fillydelphia, Equestria. Population: 53,594. Distinguishing characteristics? Jack squat. Haha! About the only thing to do here is kill time at the shopping mall.”

The earth pony takes a few more pictures before getting closer to the Pegasus.

“Alright, listen. I want you to fly over Mane Street. I want to get as many shots as I can before the Royal Guardians finish roping off this town.” The Pegasus nods as the earth pony trots back to his seat in the chariot.

The Pegasus dips down to get closer to street level. The earth pony stands on the right side to get some good shots. While flying overhead, the earth pony notices that some of the ponies below were shambling rather erratically. He spots three ponies that appear to be eating another downed pony. He takes a moment to breathe.

“What in Equestria is going on here,” He asks himself. They fly over another huge group of ponies that are gathering around a crashed chariot. A unicorn is standing in the middle, trying to fend them off; but to no avail. He’s swinging a baseball bat, but the other ponies manage to grab it and throw it away.

“Get lower so I can get a better shot,” The earth pony said.

“On it,” The Pegasus responds. He floats lower and the earth pony takes some more shots. To his horror, the other ponies manage to capture the unicorn and bring him down to the ground. They soon start tearing apart his flesh and eat him.

“By Celestia. That poor stallion,” the Pegasus gasped in horror.

“C’mon, there’s nothing we can do, just keep flying,” The earth pony says. The chariot continues flying until they reach an intersection and spot some schoolfillies and their teacher, standing on top of a turned over apple cart, fending off more of the strange ponies. Most of them were waving their hooves at the chariot; terror-stricken in their little eyes.

“What do you think is going on,” The Pegasus asks.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure whatever’s going on, it’s not a normal day for this town.” The earth pony takes a few more shots before the Pegasus takes off once more. They fly close to a bakery; just as it explodes into a million pieces.

“Whoa! Did you just see that,” The Pegasus shouts, stunned at the sight and sound.

“Yeah!” The earth pony takes even more pictures than before. The smoke starts getting thick.

“I…*cough*…I got to take us up higher…*cough*,” The Pegasus chokes.

“Okay,” the earth pony replies, showing no reaction to the smoke-filled air.

The chariot rises higher and higher away from the pluming smoke. The earth pony continues to take more pictures of the carnage, snapping shots of ponies on fire, galloping out of the smoldering wreck. As they continue flying, they notice a tall warehouse; an earth pony fending off the strange zombies with a handgun on the roof.

“What in Equestria is that mare doing,” The Pegasus asked, shocked at what he was seeing.

“I’m sure she’s got her reasons,” The earth pony replied, as he leaned closer to the edge of the chariot. They continued watching as the pony emptied her last clip and threw the gun aside. She got closer and closer to the edge of the rooftop; the strange ponies getting closer and closer. One strange pony lunges for the mare and the two fall off the side of the building; and land on the ground with a spine-cringing thud.

“Oh, Celestia,” The Pegasus murmured solemnly.

“C’mon,” the earth pony says, “there’s nothing we can do for her.” The Pegasus started taking off, continuing down Mane Street.

“Hey, can you take me to the center of town,” The earth pony asks. “Maybe to that mall you were talking about earlier?”

“Sure thing,” The Pegasus answers. The Pegasus takes off and flies faster than before, heading to the mall, located in the dead center of Fillydelphia. The earth pony looks at the building through his camera and notices a chariot landing pad.

“Hey, could you get me onto the roof of that mall,” The earth pony asks. The Pegasus looks over and notices dozens upon dozens of the strange ponies gathering around the entrance of the mall.

“You’re kidding,” The Pegasus retorts. The earth pony just stands there, staring at the Pegasus. “Stallion, you are crazy.” The Pegasus prepared to land. The earth pony looked in his camera case to make sure he had everything.

“And, uh,” the earth pony says, “don’t forget to come back for me.”

“As long as you ain’t dead, Fred,” The Pegasus says.

“The name’s Flank,” The earth pony says. “Flank West. Remember that name, ‘cause the whole country’s gonna’ know about it in three days.”

As the Pegasus prepares to descend, three Royal Guard Pegasi arrive and demand that the two turn around and head back to where they came from. The Pegasus turns and starts flying toward the mall. The vibrations and sudden banking cause Flank’s camera case to fall out of the chariot and to the ground below. The Pegasus continues to fly in circles around the Royal Guards. He then suddenly takes off in the other direction.

“Get me back to that rooftop,” Flank shouts over the sound of the wind.

“I know I’m gonna’ get my flank chewed out for this one,” The Pegasus mumbles. He turns around and heads back for the landing pad. The Pegasus angles the chariot slightly lower; almost on the verge of landing. Flank takes the opportunity and jumps out of the chariot onto the mall itself. He smacks his back into the hard concrete of the roof, and rolls to try to dampen the fall. As Flank pulls himself up; he watches as the Pegasus takes off in the opposite direction, heading out of the city.

“You’re a reporter,” A mysterious voice says. Flank turns around and notices an earth pony standing by the roof access door, which leads into the mall. His fur was a bright yellow and he wore a leather vest and a ten gallon hat to match. “Yet, you came alone.”

“Well, that’s because I’m freelance,” Flank explains. “I go into the battlefield, alone. No crew.”

“And you came by chariot,” The earth pony continues; slowly trotting over to Flank. “Tell me. What did you see from above?”

“I’m not sure,” Flank says, the earth pony slowly trotting in circles around him. “But if it was just a riot, I doubt Celestia’s Royal Guardians needed to be called out.” The earth pony stops, his back towards Flank.

“And there’s one other thing I can’t figure out,” Flank continues. “It can’t be civil disobedience, from what I was told. It’s too quiet.”

The earth pony chuckles a little bit. “It’s almost as if…” He says, “Everypony’s already dead?”

“Well,” Flank says, “You seem to know what’s going on, so let’s cut to the chase. What’s going on here?”

The earth pony slowly trots up to Flank. “I think you better see for yourself,” He says. “Because this, my friend,” he looks Flank dead in the eye, “is Hell.” The earth pony trots back over to the doorway and sits back down. Flank checks his watch before deciding to head inside. He trots over and opens the door to see a stairwell leading into what appears to be the mall’s security room and contraband storage.

He trots through some of the rooms and notices a wall of monitors recording video of everything happening around the mall. While watching one of them, Flank sees a Pegasus mare with broken wings trying to gallop from her pursuers, but the strange ponies he saw when flying into town catch up to her and begin eating her alive.

“What in Equestria,” Flank asks shocked. He slowly trots out of the room and into another room filled with ventilation shafts. He slowly opens another door, in case those things were outside. Fortunately they weren’t. He hears what sounds like voices of other ponies, and gallops down the hall, hoping that somepony can give him some answers.

As he leaves the hall, he finds himself in a giant room labeled “Entrance Plaza”. He slowly trots down a flight of stairs and sees other ponies moving furniture and other items against the front door. A frantic Pegasus slams into an earth pony asking if he’s seen her dog.

“Move it, lady,” The earth pony shouts as he pushes a bench against the door. The Pegasus flies over to Flank, asking him if he’s seen her dog, but flies away before Flank can answer. He looks around the plaza, and notices a beautiful earth pony mare looking on at the other people. She, too, was wearing a ten gallon hat and had bright orange fur. He starts to trot over, to ask her some questions, but another stallion stops him.

“Hey, this is no time to ogle over pretty mares, son,” He grunts, as he trots away carrying a trashcan. “Do you want to get yourself eaten alive by zombies?”

“What,” Flank asks, shocked as to what he just heard. “Did you just say zombies?”

“Take a look out there.” The stallion points a hoof to the front doors. “If those ain’t zombies, then what would you call ‘em?” Flank looks on and sees dozens of rotting zombie ponies slamming their hooves against the glass, trying to get into the plaza. Some were missing limbs, others wings, and some even horns, while others were missing eyes or lips.

“There’ve been more and more of them since last night. Now, they’re all that’s out there.” The stallion continues. “But don’t worry…zombies are stupid and slow. We should be safe in here. Alright. Now, feel like making yourself useful?”
Flank snaps a quick picture of the zombies before listening to the stallion.

“Go around the mall and gather things we can use for the barricade back here,” He says pointing to the makeshift barricade at the doors. “C’mon, hurry, get your flank moving!” Flank starts trotting away, looking for another bench or a big piece of wood. While trotting around, he snaps some shots of the other survivors. He soon finds some plywood and 2x4s in a construction area for a new store. As he grabs a 2x4, he sees a rather old stallion trotting back and forth behind a giant metal grate. Flank gets his camera and begins to take pictures of the old stallion.

“Hey!” The stallion shouts. “Stop right there! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Why have you summoned me to this place? What are you plotting?!”

“Would you calm down old timer? I don’t know what you’re even talking about,” Flank shouts defensively. The old stallion calms down and starts to trot away. Flank tries to get the old stallion’s attention again, but he is unable to.

There’s a loud crash from behind Flank. He turns around and sees the frantic Pegasus tearing apart the barricade, trying to get to her dog that’s trapped outside with the zombies.

“I have to have my precious Maredonna!” She shouts while pulling back the benches. “Hold on, Maredonna! I’m coming!”

“Somepony stop her! She’ll let the zombies in,” A unicorn shouts. Another stallion gallops up and tries to stop the mare, but she bucks him in the mouth and continues to rip apart the barricade. She unlocks the doors and swings them open. Zombies pour in through the doors, two by two. The Pegasus is brought down and killed. The stallion that tried to stop her is pinned and eaten alive; his screams echo all the way back to Flank.

“What in Equestria are you ponies doing,” A unicorn stallion on the second floor shouts. “Gallop! Quick! Everypony get to the stairs! Now!” Flank looks on and sees a giant wall of zombies slowly shambling towards him. He looks behind him, forgetting about the giant metal grate blocking his way into the rest of the plaza.

“Great.” Flank sighs as he turns back to face the zombies.

Flank grabs a baseball bat and starts galloping towards the zombies. Some try to grab him, but he quickly ducks and dodges. He looks on in horror to see the other survivors brought down and eaten alive. Every time he tries to save one, they fall down and are attacked by the zombies. He has no choice but to gallop away and save himself.

He trips and falls into a small fountain at the center of the entrance area; zombies quickly gather around him. One stands over him, snapping at his neck like a hungry, vicious dog. His baseball bat is just out of his grasp, but he continues to reach for it, as he holds off the attacking zombie. There’s a loud gunshot and the zombie topples over. Flank looks up and sees the stallion from a moment ago with a gun floating in the air.

“Hurry,” He shouts. Flank pulls himself up and gallops to the stairs. He gets there in a matter of seconds. As he looks around, more and more zombies fill the mall. He shrugs it off and gallops up the stairs until he reaches the second floor. The unicorn that saved his life has disappeared, but Flank just brushes it off and gallops back to the security room.

He gallops through the door into the hallway, closing the door behind him. He continues to gallop until he rushes through the door to the security room and stops to see three ponies waiting. One was a blonde-maned earth pony mare that wore a silver and grey jacket and a skirt that matched. The other was a Pegasus with a short grey mane, who wore a blue Fillydelphia Mall Security jacket.

And the last was the unicorn that saved his life moments ago. He had no mane and wore a yellow button-up shirt and tan kakis.

“Thank you for saving my…” Flank begins to say.

“Where are the others?” The unicorn asks.

Flank pauses.

“I don’t know.” Flank replies. “I hope they got away.” The unicorn slowly paces back and forth, thinking for a moment. He looks over at the Pegasus and nods. The Pegasus grabs a welding device and trots over to the door. He starts welding the doorknob into the doorframe.

“No…” Flank begins.

“Hey, as long as those things are out there, we better not use this door.” The unicorn raises his voice. He trots over to one of the ventilation shafts and places his ear against the door.

“What are you..?” Flank begins.

“The air ducts. They can get us back into the mall. And apparently those things aren’t smart enough to use them.” The unicorn looks over at Flank. “So they won’t be a factor.” The unicorn uses his magic to open the door.

“Wait,” Flank says. “You want to get back in there? What for?” The unicorn ignores Flank as he pulls himself inside and starts crawling in the direction of the mall. Flank sighs angrily and sits down.

“Nice camera. You a photographer?” The mare asks.

Flank stands back up and turns to the earth pony. “Freelance Photojournalist. Flank West is my name.” He holds out his hoof to shake.

“Could you show me some pictures, Flank,” The mare asks. Flank drops his hoof.

“Sure.” He pulls his camera off and hands it to the mare.

“So, you really seem to know what you’re doing,” he continues, noticing that she figured out how to review pictures on the camera. “Who are you guys, anyway? And what’re you...” He stops when he notices the mare staring at one particular picture: the one Flank took of the old stallion that badgered him with threatening questions.

“I took that one at the Entrance Plaza,” Flank says. The mare looks up at him with a slightly shocked look on her face. “Did that guy do something,” Flank asks. The mare pauses for a moment before answering.

“Nope. Thanks for showing me though.” She hands Flank his camera back and starts trotting away.

“Hey! I’m not through here.” Flank shouts. “Just who are you guys, anyway?”

The mare stops and turns around. “My name’s Jessie. The stallion you saw earlier was Brad. That’s all I’m authorized to tell you.” She trots away. Flank sighs heavily then turns around for the air duct.

“Hey, what’re you doing,” The Pegasus asks.

“I’m heading out there to find any information as to what the hay is going on around here.”

“Well, if you’re serious about going out there, take this map of the mall and this transceiver so you can remain in contact with us should anything go wrong.” The Pegasus hands Flank the items.

“Sure thing. Thanks,” Flank says. He pulls himself into the air duct and starts crawling through the system.

*** *** ***

Date: May 20, 2011 2:02 p.m.

After a few minutes, he reaches the end of the system and opens the hatch to his right. He looks around and notices that he’s in another part of the mall. He pulls himself up and starts trotting to an elevator. He looks down at the parking lot and sees hundreds of zombies. He snaps a quick picture.

“Wow…I really do have all the luck.” He trots over to the elevator and presses the call button. After a few minutes, the elevator arrives and the doors open. He trots inside and presses the button for the first floor. The doors close and the elevator slowly descends. The transceiver that Flank received chimes and Flank answers it.

“Hey, Flank, you there,” the Pegasus back at the security room asks.

“Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong,” Flank asks.

“Oh, nothing, I’m just making sure these things still work. By the way, I’ve located your position on the monitors. When you get off the elevator, you’ll be in a storage room; go down the aisle to your right and make a left, two rights, and then another left. You’ll find yourself at a hallway that leads into Paradise Plaza. If you need any assistance, let me know.”

“Sure thing.” Flank hangs up as the elevator doors open. Flank finds himself in a giant storage room filled with boxes and boxes of merchandise that the mall sells. He trots through the small aisles until he reaches the center of the storage room. He sees the hall the Pegasus was talking about and starts trotting down. As he gets closer to the door, he hears hoofsteps behind him getting louder and louder. Flank stops and listens carefully.

“Zombies, huh?” He reaches for a fire extinguisher on the wall and prepares to attack. He hugs the wall and slowly approaches the corner where he hears the hoofsteps. The pony gallops around the corner, and Flank swings overhead, missing Jessie by an inch. She falls back hard and aims her gun at Flank.

“What in the hay are you doing sneaking up on me?” Flank sets down the extinguisher and helps Jessie up.

“Brad’s in trouble, he needs my help,” She gasps, out of breath from galloping. She takes one step and yelps in pain. Flank grabs her as she limps.

“Look, it’s probably just a sprain. Give me your gun.” She looks at him funny. “Look, it’s my fault you’re hurt. Let me help.” Flank holds his hand out.

“No, I can’t let a civilian do this,” She groans. “It’s against regulation.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t think they had zombie-infested malls when they wrote those regulations, kid.” Flank retorts.
Jessie thinks carefully.

“Do you know how to use this,” She asks, holding the gun out.

“Kinda,” Flank says. “I’ve covered wars, you know.”

Jessie hands Flank her gun and some extra ammo. Flank checks the stock and cocks the gun. He places it in the back of his pants.

“Now, when I help out your friend, and get back, you and I are going to have a nice, little chat.” Flank trots towards the door to Paradise Plaza.

“Brad’s at the food court. And thank you. I’ll meet you back in the security room,” Jessie says. Flank opens the door and heads into Paradise Plaza. He quickly closes the door behind him and pulls out the map. Some of the zombies standing around notice Flank and start shambling towards him.

“Okay, where’s the food court?” He looks closely at the map and finds it. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. It’s on the other side of the mall?” He puts the map away and starts galloping towards the other end of Paradise Plaza. Most of the zombies are spread out, so Flank doesn’t worry too much about them grabbing him or biting him. He reaches some double doors that lead into a giant park in the center of the mall. He bursts through them and continues galloping through the hordes of zombies. The putrid smell of decaying flesh begins to overpower Flank’s nose; his eyes start filling up with tears.

He stops and pulls out the map again. He stares at it for a moment, then continues on to the food court. As he approaches the entrance to the food court, he sees dozens of zombies gathered at the door, pounding on the glass and moaning. He looks around and sees a lawn mower to his right. He gallops over and starts it up, thinking carefully about what he’s about to do.

“Oh, Celestia, forgive me.” He pushes it into the crowd of zombies, grinding them up in the blades, blood and entrails flying in all directions. Flank sheds small tears as he mows each one over.

“They’re dead.” He tells himself, wiping away the wet beads on his cheeks. “They’re dead, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” He pushes through the last of the rotten equines and gallops into the food court, closing the doors behind him.

He slowly trots through, looking for Brad. Suddenly, he hears a gun go off, and sees a bullet ricochet off of the support beam next to him, just narrowly missing his head. He spots a pony near the ceiling, about forty yards from him. Flank panics and gallops over to one of the dining areas. He slides under a table and peeks out over the edge. He looks over to where he last spotted the pony and sees that it’s the earth pony he met on the rooftop earlier in the day. He wields a machine gun, firing it off in spurts to try to take out Flank and Brad. Flank gallops over to Brad, about ten yards away, where he, himself, is hunkered down underneath a table, trying to deflect the hail of gunfire.

“You’re…uh…marefriend sent me,” Flank says sarcastically.

“Who? Jessie,” Brad asks as he lifts his head up to find the earth pony. Another barrage of bullets showers the two of them. “Never mind,” he says, looking down and noticing Flank has a gun.

“Do you know how to use that,” he asks.

“Sort of,” Flank says, “But I’ve never fired at a pony before.” Brad looks up again and more bullets hit the table.

“Well, get used to it. Here’s some extra ammo,” Brad says while handing Flank another clip. “When he stops to reload,” Brad continues, “gallop to the left and try to distract him so I can get a good shot off.”

“How do you want me to distract him?” Another round of bullets hit the table.

“Well, the best option would be to shoot the stallion,” Brad says, “But if you can’t do that, just keep him busy dodging your bullets and I’ll do what I can.” Brad looks up again and sees the earth pony reloading his gun. “Stick to the shadows,” Brad says. “Now. One…two…three!” Brad stands up and starts firing at the earth pony as Flank gallops to the left and into the shadows.

Flank dives behind a wooden barrel and gets the gun ready. He looks over and sees the earth pony taking more shots at Brad. Flank aims the gun at the earth pony, gulps, and then pulls the trigger. The bullet flies through the air and clips the earth pony’s hat, causing him to momentarily drop his gun. Brad then starts firing some rounds, but the earth pony gallops off to the side.

Flank and Brad join back together and chase after him, firing more bullets at him. One hits his back left leg and he falls forward. He shouts for a rope and a noose comes down. The earth pony slips one of his hooves through the hole and is pulled up to the ceiling where he disappears.

“Dang it,” Brad shouts exasperated. Flank trots over to Brad and starts talking to him.

“Who was that stallion,” He asks.

“No one. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get moving.” He starts trotting away when Flank pulls out his camera.

“You’re, uh, looking for somepony, aren’t you,” Flank asks, as he brings up the picture of the old stallion from the Entrance Plaza. Brad turns around to see what Flank is talking about and notices the picture.

“Where did you get that,” Brad asks as he trots over to Flank. He tries to grab the camera, but Flank pulls it away.

“First, you tell me who you are, and I’ll give you this picture.” Brad stops and sighs deeply.

“You’re one hay of a reporter, Flank,” Brad says. “Alright. Jessie and I are D.E.S. agents. And, yes, we are looking for the stallion in that picture.”

“Department of Equestrian Security,” Flank asked shocked. “Is that stallion who just got away a terrorist or something?”

“I don’t know,” Brad says. “He might be. But, could you tell me where you took that picture?”

“Okay, you held up your end of the bargain,” Flank says. “I took this picture earlier today, at the Entrance Plaza, just before the zombies got in.” Brad looks at the picture for a moment.

“The Entrance Plaza? Are you sure?”

Flank nods his head. Brad thinks for a moment.

“Okay,” he says, “if you can help me get that old stallion in the picture, I’ll let you continue your little investigation.” Brad then starts trotting away towards another part of the food court; Flank follows him with his camera ready.

*** *** ***

Date: May 20, 2011 10:08 p.m.

“Sir, if you could please just come out, we can take you to safety,” Brad says. He and Flank were back at the Entrance Plaza, talking to the old stallion from earlier that day. The old stallion had locked himself inside a bookstore.

“No, I will not leave this store,” he shouted, “until you can guarantee me safe passage from this Luna forsaken mall! Now, goodnight!” The old stallion then closed the door and started trotting away.

“Wait! Dr. Barnapple,” Brad started to say, but the old stallion, Dr. Barnapple, just continued trotting away. Brad sighed heavily and trotted back over to Flank.

“So,” Flank asked, “what’s the situation?”

“The old coot won’t leave unless we can make sure he has a way out of here.” Brad says as he starts trotting over to the entrance back to Paradise Plaza. Flank follows him, taking a few more pictures of the zombies they pass. Flank takes out his transceiver and hands it to Brad. Brad gets a hold of Jessie.

“Hey, Jessie,” he says, “we’re on our way back to the security room.”

“Oh, Brad, thank Celestia that you’re alive,” She says with a happy tone.

“We lost the target at the food court,” He says, “And Dr. Barnapple wouldn’t come with me.”

“Why not?” Jessie asked.

“He wants a guaranteed safe passage out of the mall,” He explains. “Try getting a hold of HQ. See if they can send out a chariot to pick us up.”

“Will do,” Jessie replies. “Be safe.”

“We will,” Brad says. They reach the doorway to the storage room that leads back to the security room and head inside. As they trot through the hall, they hear shallow breathing and moaning coming from further down the hall. Brad pulls out his gun, as well as Flank. They round the corner and see a few zombie ponies standing around.

“What do we do,” Flank asks.

“Just start taking them out,” Brad responds. Just then, a yellow bug with glowing red eyes begins flying around the two of them. It resembles a wasp, but has an abdomen double the size of one, and no visible stinger. Brad ignores it, but Flank swats it to the ground and stomps on it.

“Darn bugs,” Flank growls, as he wipes his hoof on the concrete floor. “I hate bugs.”

Just then, no more than two seconds later, the zombies began to have seizures and their heads exploded into giant showers of blood.

“What just happened,” Brad asked, looking at Flank.

“I have no idea,” Flank responds.

*** *** ***

Date: May 20, 2011 10:24 p.m.

“And that’s basically the situation,” Brad says to Jessie. “Any luck with HQ?”

“No,” Jessie says, turning her chair back to the computer. “Something’s blocking the signal. I can’t get ahold of anypony.” Brad sighs heavily.

“Well,” he says, “so much for getting a chariot out of here.” He trots over to and lies down on a small green bed in the security room. It had no mattress, and was no bigger than a twin-sized bed, and resembled a furled out, wrinkled sleeping bag.

“I’ve got a ride,” Flank says. Jessie turns around and Brad sits up.

“It’s mine,” Flank continues. “It’ll be here in three days’ time. He’ll take me, you guys, and that Dr. Barnapple.”

“Really?” Brad asks. “Good. We’ll just wait three days.” Brad pulls himself up and torts over to Flank. “You and I will head back to the Entrance Plaza tomorrow morning and let Dr. Barnapple know.” He trots over to the door and gets ready to leave.

“But we’ll need supplies; food and water.” He puts the gun in his holster. “I’ll be back in a little bit.” Jessie stands up, but Brad stops her.

“Stay here,” He says. “I won’t be gone long.” Brad then heads out the door and trots toward the air duct. Flank lies down on the bed and starts to fall asleep. Jessie continues trying to get a hold of their HQ.

To be continued...